Lou
Your second post and a new joiner today. Welcome. Or, perhaps more likely, an old hand who's decided it's time for a new handle judging by the nature of your post. Very 411A? Either way, I feel obliged to reply.
Yes, it's an expat job.Well spotted. We all know that which is why many here made huge decisions before leaving. Leaving family and friends behind and yes, in many cases, good jobs. Many will have spent hours trolling through Pprune and based their decisions on that, while others may have sought advice from friends and colleagues already here. But what about those that joined 4 years ago based on information over three days of recruitment and interview. Some here may well call it naivity on their part but when a Company with Ek's pedigree comes calling, you would have no reason not to believe them. Of course, that was then. Now, times have changed and so unfortunately has the reputation of this Airline. At least where Pilots are concerned anyway. The latest roadshows have met with only limited success and those that may be interested in joining are asking the sort of questions that many of us wished we'd asked years ago. The 3 hour 'presentation' is slick but many now want to know more than the final height of Burj Dubai or how many dinasours will be roaming Dubailand eating all 'the little brown fellahs'! Difficult questions are met with economical replies or "see me after the show". Unbelievably, some members of fleet management are
still advising 3 years to command for the newbies that are coming through. Regardless of their fleet. The only thing that this achieves is the perpetual belief among F/o's that their time will come.......... in 3 years!
That, however, is not the reason legal action is being threatened. Discrimination is defined as when a distinction is made or unfair treatment is received, especially because of prejudice. It makes no difference whatsoever whether you're expat or not. Ethnic origin is also completely irrelevent.
Whatever people may say and regardless of how Emirates apply it, we do have a seniority system in place. We have a date of joining with published lists. We also have salary increments based as such. We are
NOT contract pilots so please stop implying as such. The only 'temporary' aspect to our employment is the 3 year Visa renewal which every non national, working or otherwise, needs to complete. Comparing professional Pilots to other working groups here in Dubai is beyond naivety so please save the wind up comments for a different forum.
The FOM is littered with confusion and contradictions, however, the upgrade policy clearly states that ultimately the needs of Emirates will come first. Whilst i'm sure we'd all agree with that principle, it also states that progression is in seniority order. Great! But it isn't great because what we end up with is a mish mash of policies that are not consistently applied and are changed more frequently than the landing runway in Dubai. A kneejerk reaction from a tragic accident several years ago that has had far reaching implications for those employed in this part of the World. This has lead to resentment and discontent amongst the Pilots. Not just on the Airbus, but across all fleets. The only 'bum deal' these guys got was not being told the complete picture before they joined. It's easy for us all, now that we're acclimatised to the way it works here, but how many of us can say hand on heart that we all new about the pitfalls of living and working in the Middle East. Were they told that 'historically' your progress will depend on Aircraft type, that you're joining an 'expat gig' and your 'ass is ours'. I doubt it very much. Neither do I doubt the fact that as a Company, we will not offer passover pay to those dis-advantaged by fleet. Rather perverse when you consider all the huffing and puffing this Company made towards Airbus for compensation for its own 'financial loss' due to late delivery.
Ironically, it's this very issue of command that's at the heart of our recruitment problems. There are others and growing by the day, but this is one that we as a Company have a direct control over. If Emirates was to strictly apply the rule of seniority and have faith in those that it recruited and trained,then we wouldn't be in this mess. Were we all not told at interview that the Company only recruits future Captains, not First Officers? DEC's need not ponder that question and may continue.The decent Pilots are drying up and standards are begining to drop. It will continue to deteriorate unless we are prepared to lower the minimum experience level. Not Standards, but experience. There is a huge difference between the two but somebody needs to explain that to those at the very top.They wrongly equate experience with ability. And that's not the only problem. If we had faith in our own training system then transition upgrades would pass. As it is, our very own training department has been decimated over the last 3 years or so and inconsistency is the new buzz word as Alteon instructors become the norm rather than the exception. Incompetent planning has resulted in training being undertaken in London with BA and out in Singapore. There's now not enough sim time or even trainers to train the new trainers. Could you just imagine the state we'd be in if the 380's were on time.
Then again, I guess if that were so, the Airbus guys would be Captains by now. Instead of plaintiffs!
"ALL RISE" "Judge Al Maktoum now presiding"
